Seven talking points from the General Election result in Offaly

The 2024 General Election is officially in the books and after an at times nerve racking count that ended at 2am on Saturday in the gym in the Community School in Birr, Carol Nolan, Tony McCormack and John Clendennen were elected as the three TDs to represent Offaly in the 34th Dail. But while the three TDs returned were the favourites to take the seats, there were still plenty of twists and turns and points of note throughout the 17 hour long count. Here we take a look at just some of the talking points from the General Election result in Offaly. 

Female candidates take over 50% of the first preference votes

Of the 11 candidates on the ballot paper in Offaly, six were women and they combined to take just over 50% of the first preference votes with the total coming in at 50.32%. Carol Nolan led the way with 22.15% and Aoife Masterson claimed just short of one in six votes at 16.54%. Claire Murray took 6.85% of the votes with Pippa Hackett, Keisha Taylor and Maureen Ward combining for 4.8% of the vote.  When the dust settled, Carol Nolan was the only woman elected but Sinn Fein's Aoife Masterson came very close to making it two losing out by just 116 votes

Did Fianna Fail's selection strategy cost them a seat

Fianna Fail took one of the three seats on offer taking just under 24% of the first preference votes but could they have improved that return with a different selection strategy? Tony McCormack was selected to run by delegates in Offaly and Claire Murray was added to the ballot paper after the local selection. That prompted Eddie Fitzpatrick to leave the party and run as an Independent and he picked up 7.9% of the first preference votes. Adding all those votes together would have given candidates elected as Fianna Fail councillors earlier this year a total of just under 32% of the total first preference vote. We'll absolutely acknowledge that this is a somewhat simplistic calculation and that it's impossible to know if 32% would have been enough for two seats but, given how tight it was on the final count, they could have been in the hunt for a second seat which yet could make a big difference when it comes to Government formation.

Unpredictable transfers made the final seat impossible to call

Transfers will always decide the ultimate outcomes of elections in Ireland and there is normally a fairly clear pattern but on Saturday in the Offaly election count, transfers took on a life of their own. One seasoned campaigner commented that anything could happen as the transfers 'were going all over the place'. At one point the buzz in hall was that it wasn't looking good for John Clendennen and there were some very nervous Fine Gael people but ultimately it was transfers from Claire Murray and Eddie Fitzpatrick that just edged him past Aoife Masterson for the last seat after the Sinn Fein candidate had proved to be very transfer friendly in earlier counts including taking nearly a fifth of Fergus McDonnell's 2,194 votes.

Carol Nolan has cemented herself as a strong Independent in the Dail

When she was first elected as a Sinn Fein candidate in 2016, Carol Nolan did so with just 170 votes to spare over Eddie Fitzpatrick. In that election part of North Tipperary was bundled in with Offaly and she claimed 10.9% of the first preference votes. As an Independent candidate in the 2020 election in the Laois Offaly constituency, she took 7.8% of the first preference votes but when all the votes were counted, she had over 5,000 to spare over Pippa Hackett. Fast forward to 2024 and with some big name Offaly Independents not in the field this time around, Carol Nolan topped the poll in the county with a very impressive 22.15% of the first preference votes. She has now cemented herself as a strong Independent not just in Offaly but also in Dail Eireann.

North Offaly candidates split the vote and cost the area a possible TD again

North Offaly has not elected a TD since 1992 when the late Ger Connolly was elected in Laois Offaly. Whatever hope the area had of returning a TD was realistically gone before the election with four candidates from the area on the ballot paper. Between them Eddie Fitzpatrick, Fergus McDonnell, Claire Murray and Pippa Hackett took close to 23% of the first preference votes with Eddie Fitzpatrick performing best at 7.9%. That split in the vote left the area without a TD yet again. 

Tullamore's long wait for a TD from the town ends

Tullamore had also been without a TD for close to 30 years with Pat Gallagher's election for Labour in 1992 being the last time before this election that a TD had been returned for the town. That waited ended with the election of Tony McCormack and it was almost a double for Tullamore as Aoife Masterson came within 116 votes of also getting elected.

One small parish incredibly elects two TDs

While the entire area of North Offaly remains without a TD this century, and while Tullamore finally returned one, a small parish in Offaly can now boast that it has two TDs. Carol Nolan and John Clendennen were both elected to represent Offaly in the General Election and both hail from Kinnitty parish in the foothills of the Slieve Blooms. Independent Carol Nolan topped the poll and was duly elected on the fifth count while Fine Gael's John Clendennen was officially elected after the final count without reaching the quota. According to official figures, just over 900 people were registered to vote at the two polling stations at Kinnitty Community Centre with other voting in Roscomroe and Clareen. That is possibly one for the record books.